Career Coach

Reporting to the Manager for Career Preparation, this position serves as a member of the student support team for the LSU Olinde Career Center: Provides career coaching to students and alumni; empowers students to explore their major and careers, understand themselves and gain experience to complement their academic careers and achieve their post-graduation definition of success. Expands career ecosystem on campus by building professional relationships with faculty and campus partners; providing resources and support to integrate Ready to Roar framework into all aspects of the LSU student experience.

GENERAL RESPONSIBILITIES FOR THIS POSITION INCLUDE:

• Provides guidance, coaching and support to students throughout their career development process; including major/career exploration; experience building; and professional transition.
• Designs and implements programmatic efforts to scale career readiness services and resources.
• Liaise with faculty, campus partners, departments, and employers to promote career development and advance the Ready to Roar career readiness proficiencies.

OPPORTUNITIES FOR IMPACT:

Expand a Culture of Career Readiness within Key Campus Units: Career Coaches act as ambassadors of career readiness across LSU’s campus. By building intentional partnerships with faculty, academic advisors, student organizations, and support offices, Coaches can embed the Ready to Roar framework into coursework and co-curricular activities. This integration ensures students begin thinking about their long-term goals early and see career readiness as an essential part of their academic journey, not just a “senior year” task. Coaches can also support faculty by providing career-related classroom content, co-developing assignments, and serving as thought partners in aligning academic learning with professional competencies.

Promote and Track Experiential Education Opportunities: Experiential education is essential to preparing students for their careers, and the Career Center has a unique opportunity to contribute to the university’s goal of understanding how many students participate in these experiences. The Career Coach is especially well-positioned not only to encourage students to pursue meaningful opportunities that complement their academic studies, but also to help identify effective ways of gathering this information from students to ensure their impact is fully recognized.

Expand Employer Engagement within the Student Experience: Understanding the world of work is integral to a student’s career preparation, the Career Coach will have the opportunity to develop unique programs to support student learning and connect students with employers from varied industries and companies. By fostering these relationships, Coaches contribute to a stronger, more vibrant career ecosystem where students can access industry insights, expand their professional networks, and gain opportunities that align with their aspirations.

Empower Students in their Personal Definition of Success: Every LSU student has a unique vision of success after graduation, whether that involves graduate school, entering the workforce, or pursuing entrepreneurial ventures. Career Coaches play a pivotal role in helping students clarify their values, strengths, and goals while providing the tools and encouragement needed to pursue them. By equipping students with self-awareness and practical strategies, Coaches empower them to take ownership of their career journey and to graduate not just with a degree, but with a plan.

ATTRIBUTES OF THE SUCCESSFUL CANDIDATE:

Unequivocally student-centered in every aspect of decision-making. Is student-oriented even when it requires creativity or challenging the status quo.

Ability to build and maintain professional relationships of trust and support with colleagues across the campus community.

Committed to innovation, creativity, and outside-the-box thinking while being dedicated to high-quality work, professionalism, and results. Strives to be better tomorrow than they were yesterday.

Effective communicator who has a genuine sense of respect and appreciation for the community we serve.

Skilled project manager who can plan, organize, and coordinate multiple projects simultaneously.

Active learner who is in constant pursuit of building knowledge from known experts to best meet the needs of students.

Ability to demonstrate effective customer service skills: kind, helpful, and easy to work with.

RESPONSIBILITIES:

Career Coaching and Programming (45%): Coach undergraduate and graduate students, along with alumni, individually on holistic career development topics, providing front line advocacy and support. Translates department efforts, initiatives, and goals to students through interactions at programs, services, events and experiences. Designs and implements programmatic efforts to scale career readiness services and resources.

Career Ecosystem Building (40%): Expands a culture of career within the LSU community, propagating the importance of career exploration, gaining work experience that complements academic majors, and preparing for a transition to life after college (employment or graduate study). Liaise with faculty, campus partners, departments, and employers to promote career development and advance the Ready to Roar career readiness proficiencies. Collaborates with faculty champions to embed career readiness activities into their courses

Quality Control (10%): Ensures every aspect of programmatic outputs including administrative tasks, implementation, and overall design exudes a high degree of quality. Embraces and executes the marginal gains approach and seeks to improve level of all services, events, programs, and experiences in the department for continuous improvement every academic year.

Other Duties as Assigned (5%): Engages in continuous development through participation in campus, local, regional, and national professional organization opportunities. This includes but is not limited to: efforts that support broad division/institution efforts such as Move-In Day, Welcome Week, Family Weekend, Disability Services Finals Testing, other special projects, etc.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS:

• Bachelor’s Degree
• Minimum of one year of professional work experience.
• LSU values skills, experience, and expertise. Candidates who have relevant experience in key job responsibilities are encouraged to apply— a degree is not required as long as the candidate meets the required years of experience specified in the job description.

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS:

• Master’s Degree in higher education administration, college student development, college student personnel administration, or a closely related field
• Experience working in a university career services office

ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS/EXPECTATIONS:

As with all LSU employees, due to this position title and/or responsibilities, this position has an obligation to assist students in the acquisition of necessary services. Should a student appear in need of or seek assistance with issues of an emotional, behavioral, or mental health related matter they should be referred to the proper service within the Student Health Center. In situations where the student creates an impression that they are a danger to themselves or others, the advisor should immediately contact the Care Team, the Dean of Students or the appropriate law enforcement agency. The employee outside of those rights contained within FERPA should create no impression of client or patient confidentiality.

APPLICATIONS:

Applications will be accepted online on the LSU Careers website. The search committee will begin reviewing applications immediately and continue to accept applications and nominations until the position is filled. However, in order to assure the fullest consideration, candidates are encouraged to have complete applications submitted by October 24, 2025. Requested application materials include a letter of interest; curriculum vitae or resume; and the names, telephone numbers, and e-mail addresses of at least three professional references. Salary will be competitive and commensurate with qualifications.  An offer of employment is contingent on a satisfactory pre-employment background check.